Red Hot Chili Peppers Get Graphic in ‘Monarchy of Roses’ Video

Red Hot Chili Peppers are transformed into graphic novel characters in the visually arresting video for 'Monarchy of Roses,' the second single off the band's latest album 'I'm With You.' The vid, directed by Marc Klasfeld, is all black and white, with the only splash of color coming from the roses mentioned in the title, all of which fly around on the screen.

The specifically stylized clip was inspired by the work of artist Raymond Pettibon, so if you are not already familiar with Pettibon, this video should arouse your curiosity. He is the younger brother of Black Flag's Greg Ginn and is known for his comic-book like scribblings and ambiguous text. Well, both of those features of Pettibon's art are on display in the 'Monarchy of Roses' video, since text that is not referencing the lyrics appears on screen throughout. It's intriguing.

Frontman Anthony Kiedis still rocks that porno 'stache and in one particularly memorable scene, he is the puppet master of a devil marionette. There are plenty of striking images that pop up on screen, including a beating heart, a spider that crawls through it and the band performing atop a speeding muscle car, pictured above.

The images feel like pencil and crayon sketches come to life as they are sometimes splattered across the screen, and it feels like a graphic novel and a comic book developing on screen. It actually reminds us a bit of that film 'A Scanner Darkly' in how the comic renderings are so lifelike.

This is a video we recommend watching again and again and then again. There is so much popping off the screen that it's tough to process it all or catch everything in one sitting.